Filed under: Personal reflections
Yesterday I had an interesting experience. I almost hesitate to share it, because of the ugliness in me that it reveals. My hope is that in sharing it, others can repent before having to have an experience like this.
During our pre-service prayer, a young man walked in our church with a beard and tzitzit. (You have to understand that this is not common in our congregation. We are a Messianic church in its infancy. Besides myself, only one other man wears the tzitzit.) I was excited to see someone else walk in that obeys the Torah in this way, but I was also disappointed because they were Karaite tzitzit. Aside from a brief introduction, I didn’t get a chance to talk to this man until after the service.
I was astonished by what I found when I did get to talk to him. This man had/has such a passion for the things of God. Although our conversation was very brief, I was so impressed by his willingness to follow God, regardless of personal cost.
Next month, he’s leaving for the United Arab Emirates for two years. It is something that God has put on his heart from the time of his youth, and he’s now leaving all that he knows, all of his comforts, and moving to the other side of the world in the hopes that the light of Messiah will shine through him.
Amazingly, we didn’t spend one second talking about halacha or the like. I don’t know whether or not he truly is of a Karaite bent or not, but that really doesn’t matter. Our conversation was saturated with a common love for the Father and a desire to do His will.
When will we (I) get over the minor things of the Torah and focus on the things that truly matter to the heart of God? When will we see that there is a dying world that needs us to truly be salt and light, but instead we argue over the authority of the rabbi’s?
I don’t have the answer to these questions, but I do know this: I was and am very challenged by the thoughts of my heart toward my brother, all because of the style of tzitzit that he wore.
Filed under: Personal reflections
“The effort to repay God, in the ordinary way we pay our creditors, would nullify grace and turn it into a business transaction. If we see acts of obedience as installment payments, we make grace into a mortgage.”
-John Piper Future Grace
This last weekend, I had the privilege of attending a memorial service for my grandpa, Paul H. Sweitzer. While it was a sad occasion, it was a privilege for many reasons.
First, I learned that about a year and a half before he died, Grandpa made a commitment to God that truly brought peace to his life. He realized with his heart that through our Messiah, God forgave his sins. How exciting to know that I will again be able to sit with my grandfather and hear his trademarked cackle after he shares something funny.
Secondly, I learned that my grandpa was a true American hero. From the time that I was a young boy, I knew that Grandpa was a gunner in WWII, but I didn’t know anything about where he fought, or the nature of his duty.
Grandpa was a waist gunner in a B-17 bomber, part of the 100th bomb group, in squadron 418. Needless to say, this was a VERY dangerous job. He flew 35 missions, 6 times over Berlin, Germany.
I don’t think that Grandpa was a hero simply because he served our country in such a dangerous capacity. Grandpa was a hero because he loved, and always gave of himself to ensure that those he loved were taken care of. He lived for 40 years with the nightmares of the things he experienced in the war, yet he never complained. Also, when he finally realized that he could not continue in life alone, he reached out to the only One who could bring peace and comfort.
Grandpa, I love you. Thank you for the legacy that you have left me. I am proud for the opportunity to pass these memories to my children!
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